Door latch for vehicle

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a vehicle door latch. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a vehicle door checker that includes: an open lever configured to rotate a pawl in an open direction; a handle open lever having a link pin insertion groove; an inner handle lever connected to an inner handle cable to be rotated in an open direction in response to operation of an inner handle, and including a first contact end and a second contact end configured to come into contact with the handle open lever while being rotated in the open direction so as to rotate the handle open lever in the open direction; an inner link lever configured to come into contact with the first contact end when the inner handle lever is rotated in the open direction so as to be interlockingly rotated in an unlocking direction; an inner lock lever configured to share a fifth rotation axis with the inner link lever; an elastic member fastened between the inner link lever and the inner lock lever so as to transmit a rotational force of the inner link lever in the unlocking direction to the inner lock lever; and a link including a link pin interlocked with rotation of the inner lock lever in the unlocking direction so as to be fastened to the link pin insertion groove.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2017-0146504 filed on Nov. 6, 2017, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle door latch that controlsopening and closing of a vehicle door.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A vehicle door is usually provided with a door latch for controllingopening and closing operations. In a door-closed state, the door latchis engaged with a striker provided in the vehicle body so as to maintainand fix the door-closed state while the door latch is released from thestriker according to a user's manipulation of a handle, thereby allowingthe door to be opened.

The door latch has various additional functions, which are added to abasic function of controlling the opening/closing of the door asdescribed above. For example, most door latches include a door-lockingfunction that restricts door from being opened by handle operation. Whena door-locking function is activated, the door latch is capable ofremaining engaged with the striker despite a user's handle operation,thereby preventing the door from being opened. In this case, the userdeactivates the door locking and pulls the handle so as to open thedoor.

In addition to the door-locking function, various functions are added tothe door latches for safety and ease of use. For example, previouslydeveloped functions include a child lock function to limit door openingcaused through the inner handle for the safety of infants and youngchildren, a dead-lock function to limit the deactivation of lockingfunction in order to prevent unauthorized entry into the vehicleinterior, and an override function to release a locked state by only theoperation of an inner handle in the door-locked state for the sake ofuser's convenience.

In particular, the override function has been employed in many vehiclesdue to the recent trend of emphasizing user convenience. Such anoverride function requires the addition of a number of lever componentsor a complicated link structure to an existing door latch (i.e., a doorlatch which does not include the override function), which causes aproblem of increasing manufacturing costs or deterioratingassemblability. Further, in the case where the override function isadded, the lever operation according to the operation of the innerhandle and the lever operation by the other operation button collidewith each other, and thus the damage to or malfunction of the levercomponents may occur frequently. Typically, when the user (occupant)operates the inner handle and the respective lever components of thedoor latch cooperate with each other to release the lock state, and atthe same time another user (driver) releases the lock state via a doorlock button, the actions of the lever components by the two operationsare interlocked with each other, resulting in a kind of jam, which maycause the door latch not to operate properly or damage to the levercomponents and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure aim to provide a vehicle doorlatch including an override function, in which the vehicle door latch iscapable of effectively preventing damage or malfunction of the levercomponents even though the vehicle is structurally simplified byreducing the number of components.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle door checkermay be provided that includes: an open lever configured to rotate a pawlin an open direction; a handle open lever having a link pin insertiongroove; an inner handle lever connected to an inner handle cable to berotated in an open direction in response to operation of an innerhandle, and including a first contact end and a second contact endconfigured to come into contact with the handle open lever while beingrotated in the open direction so as to rotate the handle open lever inthe open direction; an inner link lever configured to come into contactwith the first contact end when the inner handle lever is rotated in theopen direction so as to be interlockingly rotated in an unlockingdirection; an inner lock lever configured to share a fifth rotation axiswith the inner link lever; an elastic member fastened between the innerlink lever and the inner lock lever so as to transmit a rotational forceof the inner link lever in the unlocking direction to the inner locklever; and a link including a link pin interlocked with rotation of theinner lock lever in the unlocking direction so as to be fastened to thelink pin insertion groove.

The vehicle door latch according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure has a first contact end and a second contact end, which areformed on the inner handle lever, so that the door lock state can bedeactivated (unlocked) by interlocking with the first contact end andthe door can be opened by interlocking with the second contact end. Theinner handle lever is capable of reducing the number of lever componentsfor implementing the override function and realizing the structuresimplification by implementing the above two interlocking operationswith a single lever component.

The vehicle door latch according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure is configured such that the first contact end first comesinto contact with the inner link lever and the second contact endsequentially comes into contact the handle open lever, so that thedeactivation (unlocking) of the door locking state and the openingoperation of the door can be sequentially performed. Therefore, despitethe structural simplification, it is possible to minimize theinterference or malfunction of the lever components when the overridefunction is executed.

The vehicle door latch of the present embodiment includes the inner linklever and the torsion spring and is configured such that the rotationalforce of the inner handle lever is transmitted to the inner lock leverthrough the inner link lever and the torsion spring. That is, the innerlock lever is not directly interlocked with the inner handle lever orthe inner link lever, but receives a rotational force through apredetermined buffer means called a torsion spring. Therefore, even whenthe operation of the other operation button is simultaneously performedwith the operation of the inner handle, or even if the lever componentsare not disposed at correct positions for a certain reason, the levercomponents can be prevented from being damaged through the bufferingaction of the torsion spring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a vehicle doorlatch according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an inner handle lever, an inner linklever, an inner lock lever, and a relay lever illustrated in FIG. 1,which are viewed from the front side; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a handle open lever, a link, an openlever, a pawl, and a catch illustrated in FIG. 1, which are viewed fromabove.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should beunderstood that the following embodiments are provided in order to helpunderstand the present disclosure, and the scope of the presentdisclosure is not limited to the following embodiments. The followingembodiments are provided to explain the present disclosure more fully toa person ordinarily skilled in the art. A detailed description of aknown configuration will be omitted when it is determined that thedescription makes the technical gist of the present disclosure ratherunclear.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a vehicle doorlatch 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2is a schematic view of an inner handle lever 150, an inner link lever160, an inner lock lever 170, and a relay lever 190 illustrated in FIG.1, which are viewed from the front side. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of ahandle open lever 140, a link 210, an open lever 130, a pawl 120, and acatch 110 illustrated in FIG. 1, which are viewed from above.

It is noted that, for the convenience of explanation, FIGS. 1 to 3illustrate only the main configuration related to the presentdisclosure, and the remaining portions are omitted from the drawings. Itis also noted that FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate an arrangement state or thelike of respective components based on the case where the door lockfunction is activated (locked) in the door-closed state.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a vehicle door latch (hereinafter, referredto as a “door latch 100”) of the present embodiment may include a catch110.

The catch 110 may be provided to be rotatable about a first rotationaxis R1. The catch 110 may be engaged with a striker (not illustrated)installed at one side of the vehicle body so as to restrain the door inthe closed state. An engagement groove 111 to which the striker isengaged may be provided at one side of the catch 110.

When the door is closed, the catch 110 collides with the striker. Due toan impact caused by the collision, the catch 110 is capable of beingrotated about the first rotation axis R1, and the striker is engagedwith the engagement groove 111, which causes the door to be restrainedin the closed state. FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrated a state in which thestriker is engaged with the engagement groove 111 and the door isrestrained and held in the closed state.

The catch 110 may be rotated clockwise about the first rotation axis R1in the illustrated state and may be switched to a state in which thecatch 110 is capable of being disengaged from the striker. The rotationdirection of the catch 110 (the clockwise direction in the drawings) isreferred to as an open direction. According to this, the catch 110 iscapable of being rotated in the open direction (the clockwise directionin the drawings) so as to be switched to the state in which the catch110 is releasable from the striker. In this state, the door can beopened.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment may include a pawl 120.

The pawl 120 may be provided to be rotatable about a second rotationaxis R2. The pawl 120 may be engaged with one side of the catch 110 inthe door-closed state so as to restrict the rotation of the catch 110 inthe open direction (the clockwise direction in the drawings). That is,in the door-closed state, the catch 110 may be rotationally restrainedby the pawl 120, whereby the door may be restrained and held in a closedstate.

In the illustrated state, the pawl 120 may be disengaged from the catch110 by being rotated counterclockwise about the second rotation axis R2.In such a case, the catch 110 is released from the restraint so that thedoor can be opened. Therefore, the rotation direction of the pawl 120 asdescribed above (the counterclockwise direction in the drawings) will bereferred to as an open direction. Accordingly, the pawl 120 is rotatedin the open direction (the counterclockwise direction in the drawings),so that the engagement with the catch 110 can be released. When theengagement of the catch 110 is released, the catch 110 is rotated andreturned in the open direction (the clockwise direction in the drawings)by a resilient means so as to be disengaged from the striker, so thatthe door can be opened.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment may include an open lever130.

The open lever 130 may be provided to be rotatable while sharing thesecond rotation axis R2 with the pawl 120. The open lever 130 may befastened to the pawl 120 so as to interlockingly rotate the pawl 120 inthe open direction (the counterclockwise direction in the drawings) inthe door-closed state. That is, when the open lever 130 is rotated inthe counterclockwise direction in the illustrated state, the pawl 120 isrotated in the open direction (the counterclockwise direction in thedrawings) to be interlocked therewith. The counterclockwise rotation ofthe open lever 130 as described above corresponds to the open directionof the pawl 120 (the counterclockwise direction in the drawings). Thus,the counterclockwise rotation will be referred to as open directionrotation.

The open lever 130 is configured to interlockingly rotate the pawl 120in the open direction (the counterclockwise direction) to be interlockedwith the rotation of the handle open lever 140, which will be describedlater, and may be provided with a link pin interlocking portion 131 thatreceives the rotational operation force of the handle open lever 140through the link pin interlocking portion 211. The link pin interlockingportion 131 may be spaced apart from the second rotation axis R2 by apredetermined distance so as to be adjacent to the link pin insertiongroove 142 of the handle opening lever 140 in the door-closed state.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment may include the handle openlever 140.

The handle open lever 140 may be provided to be rotatable about thethird rotation axis R3. When rotated clockwise in the state illustratedin the drawing according to the operation of the inner handle (notillustrated), the handle open lever 140 is capable of interlockinglyrotating the open lever 130 in the open direction (the counterclockwisedirection in the drawings). The counterclockwise rotation of the handleopen lever 140 corresponds to the rotation of the open lever 130 in theopen direction (the clockwise direction in the drawings). Thus, thecounterclockwise rotation will be referred to as open directionrotation.

However, as shown in the drawings, in the state in which the door lockis activated (locked), the handle open lever 140 is not interlocked withthe open lever 130. The open lever 130 is disposed below the handle openlever 140 such that the handle open lever 140 will not affect the openlever 130 even if the handle open lever 140 is rotated. Therefore, evenif the handle open lever 140 is rotated by itself in this state, thedoor is not opened and is in the locked state. For example, an outhandle (not illustrated) is connected to the handle open lever 140through a predetermined link or cable, and thus the door is not openedeven if the handle open lever 140 is rotated by the operation of the outhandle.

In this case, the rotational interlocking between the handle open lever140 and the open lever 130 may be performed by the link pin 211 to bedescribed later. That is, depending on the position of the link pin 211,the interlocking between the handle open lever 140 and the open lever130 is activated (the lock state is deactivated (unlocked)) ordeactivated (the lock state is activated (locked)). For the purpose ofinterlocking with the link pin 211, the handle opening lever 140 may beprovided with a link pin insertion groove 142 into which the link pin211 may be inserted and fastened. The link pin insertion groove 142 maybe formed by recessing one side of the handle open lever 140 at aposition corresponding to the link pin 211.

The handle opening lever 140 is capable of receiving the operation forceof the inner handle by the inner handle lever 150 to be described later.To this end, a handle open lever contact end 141 may be provided at oneside of the handle open lever 140. The handle open lever contact5 end141 is spaced apart from the third rotation axis R3 by a predetermineddistance to be adjacent to the second contact end 152 of the innerhandle lever 150 to be described later in the door-closed state asillustrated.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment may include the innerhandle lever 150.

The inner handle lever 150 may be provided to be rotatable about thethird rotation axis R4. An inner handle cable C1 may be provided to beconnected to the inner handle lever 150. The inner handle cable C1 iscapable of transmitting the operation force of the inner handle to theinner handle lever 150. Thus, the inner handle lever 150 is capable ofbeing rotated about the fourth rotation axis R4. More specifically, whenthe inner handle cable C1 is pulled by the operation of the inner handlein the state illustrated in the drawings, the inner handle lever 150 isrotated counterclockwise about the fourth rotation axis R4. Thecounterclockwise rotation of the inner handle lever 150 causes theopening operation of the door as will be described later. Thus, thecounterclockwise rotation will be referred to as open directionrotation. According to this, the inner handle lever 150 is capable ofbeing rotated in the open direction (the counterclockwise direction inthe drawings) as the inner handle cable C1 is pulled.

The inner handle lever 150 is capable of transmitting the operationforce of the inner handle to the handle open lever 140 described aboveand the inner link lever 160 to be described below. In other words, theinner handle lever 150 is rotated in the open direction (thecounterclockwise direction in the drawings) in the door-closed state soas to interlockingly rotate the handle open lever 140 and the inner linklever 160.

In order to perform the interlocking rotation described above, a secondcontact end 152 may be provided on one side of the inner handle lever150. The second contact end 152 corresponds to the handle open levercontact end 141 formed on the handle open lever 140 and the inner handlelever 150 is rotated about the fourth rotation axis R4 in the opendirection (the clockwise direction), it comes into contact with thehandle open lever contact end 141 and rotates the handle open lever 140.Thereby, the handle open lever 140 can be rotated in the open direction(the clockwise direction in the drawings) about the third rotation axisR3.

A first contact end 151 may be provided on the other side of the innerhandle lever 150. The first contact end 151 may be spaced apart from thesecond contact stage 152 by a predetermined distance in thecircumferential direction about the fourth rotation axis R4. The firstcontact end 151 is configured to interlockingly rotate the inner linklever 160 to be described later. When rotated in the open direction (thecounterclockwise direction in the drawings) about the fourth rotationaxis R4 in the door-closed state, the inner handle lever 150 comes intocontact with one side of the inner link lever 160, thereby applying arotational operation force to the inner link lever 160.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment may include an inner linklever 160.

The inner link lever 160 may be provided to be rotatable around thefifth rotation axis R5. The inner link lever 160 is configured totransmit the rotational force of the inner handle lever 150 to an innerlock lever 170 to be described later. One side of the inner link lever160 may be configured to be capable of coming into contact with thefirst contact end 151 of the inner handle lever 150. In the door-closedstate as illustrated, when the inner handle lever 150 is rotated in theopen direction (the counterclockwise direction in the drawings), thefirst contact end 151 comes into contact with the inner link lever 160,so that the inner link lever 160 can be rotated counterclockwise aboutthe fifth rotation axis R5. Since the counterclockwise rotation of theinner link lever 160 finally deactivates (unlocks) the lock state, thecounterclockwise rotation will be referred to as unlocking directionrotation. According to this, the inner link lever 160 is capable ofbeing interlocked with the open direction (counterclockwise in thedrawings) rotation of the inner handle lever 150 so as to be rotated inthe unlocking direction (the counterclockwise direction in thedrawings).

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment may include an inner locklever 170.

The inner lock lever 170 may be provided to share the rotation axis withthe inner link lever 160 and to be rotatable about the fifth rotationaxis R5. The inner lock lever 170 may be interlocked with the rotationof the inner link lever 160 by an elastic member 180 to be describedlater. That is, the inner lock lever 170 receives the rotational forceof the inner link lever 160 in the unlocking direction (thecounterclockwise direction in the drawings) through the elastic member180, and is capable of rotating counterclockwise about the fifthrotational axis R5 by being interlocked therewith. Similar to the innerlink lever 160 described above, the counterclockwise rotation of theinner lock lever 170 will be referred to as unlocking directionrotation. According to this, the inner lock lever 170 is capable ofbeing rotated in the unlocking direction (the counterclockwise directionin the drawings) by being interlocked with the unlocking direction (thecounterclockwise direction) rotation of the inner link lever 160(counterclockwise direction in the figure).

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment may include an elasticmember 180.

The elastic member 180 is capable of interlockingly rotating the innerlink lever 160 and the inner lock lever 170. Specifically, the elasticmember 180 is capable of transmitting the rotational force of the innerlink lever 160 in the unlocking direction (the counterclockwisedirection in the drawings) to the inner lock lever 170 so as to rotatethe inner lock lever 170 in the unlocking direction (thecounterclockwise direction in the drawings).

Preferably, the elastic member 180 may be constituted with a torsionspring 180. In this case, a first end portion 181 of the torsion spring180 may be fastened to the inner link lever 160, and a second endportion 182 of the opposite side may be fastened to the inner lock lever170.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment may include a relay lever190.

One end 191 of the relay lever 190 may be fastened to the inner locklever 170 so as to be moved back and forth in the longitudinal directionin accordance with the rotation of the inner lock lever 170. That is,when the inner lock lever 170 is rotated in the unlocking direction (thecounterclockwise direction in the drawings) in the state illustrated inthe drawings, the relay lever 190, the one end 191 of which is fastenedto the inner lock lever 170, may be moved back (rightwards in thedrawings). The backward (rightward in the drawings) movement of therelay lever 190 will be referred to as unlocking direction movement.According to this, when the inner lock lever 170 is rotated in theunlocking direction (the counterclockwise direction in the drawings),the relay lever 190 may be moved in the unlocking direction (rightwardin the figure). Although not illustrated, the relay lever 190 may beguided in the forward and backward movement as described above through apredetermined support structure.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment may include a link 210.

One end of the link 210 may be fastened to the relay lever 190 throughthe sixth rotation axis R6 so as to be interlocked with the movement ofthe relay lever 190. This will be discussed below in connection with alink pin 211.

The link 210 may include a link pin 211 at the other end. The link pin211 corresponds to the link pin insertion groove 142 formed in thehandle open lever 140 and may be inserted into and fastened to the linkpin insertion groove 142 according to the movement of the relay lever190. That is, when the relay lever 190 is moved in the unlockingdirection (rightward in the drawings) in the illustrated door-lockedstate, the link 210, one end of which is fastened to the relay lever190, is displaced to be interlocked therewith such that the link pin 211is inserted into and fastened to the link pin insertion groove 142.

In addition, the link pin 211 may extend vertically by a predeterminedlength to as to come into contact with the link pin interlocking portion131 on the lower side of the link pin insertion groove 142.

The link pin 211 may activate (lock) or deactivate (unlock) the doorlock state.

That is, when the link pin 211 is disengaged from the link pin insertiongroove 142 as illustrated in the drawings, the open lever 130 is notinterlocked with the handle open lever 140. Therefore, even if thehandle open lever 140 is rotated in the open direction (the clockwisedirection in the drawings), the restraint of the catch 110 by the pawl120 is not released and the door is not opened. That is, the door lockstate is activated (locked). Therefore, the position of the link pin211, which is disengaged from the link pin insertion groove 142 asillustrated, will be referred to as a lock position P1.

When the link 210 is interlocked with the unlocking direction (rightwardin the drawings) movement of the relay lever 190 such that the link pin211 is inserted into and fastened to the link pin insertion groove 142,the open lever 130 can be interlocked with the handle open lever 140.That is, when the handle open lever 140 is rotated in the open direction(the clockwise direction in the drawings), the link pin 211 fastened tothe link pin insertion groove 142 is rotated (in the counterclockwisedirection in the drawings) about the sixth rotation axis R6 so as topush the link pin interlocking portion 131, whereby the open lever 130is rotated in the open direction (the counterclockwise direction in thedrawings) about the second rotation axis R2. Thus, when the handle openlever 140 is rotated in the open direction (the clockwise direction inthe drawings), the open lever 130 is rotated in the open direction (thecounterclockwise direction in the drawings) by being interlockedtherewith and the pawl 120 is disengaged from the catch 110, so that thedoor can be opened. That is, the door lock state is deactivated(unlocked). Therefore, the position of the link pin 211 inserted intoand fastened to the link pin insertion groove 142 will be referred to asan unlock position P2.

In the door latch 100, the first to third rotation axes R1, R2, and R3and the fourth to fifth rotary axes R4 and R5 may be disposed to besubstantially orthogonal to each other. In other words, the catch 110,the pawl 120, the open lever 130, and the handle open lever 140 may bedisposed on a first plane, and the inner handle lever 150, the innerlink lever 160, the lever 170, and the relay lever 190 may be disposedon a second plane, which is substantially orthogonal to the first plane.Through this, respective components can be more compactly arrangedinside the door latch 100.

The operation of the door latch 100 will be described below.

FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate the case where the locking function is activated(locked) in the door-closed state.

When the user operates the inner handle in the above state, the innerhandle cable C1 is pulled and the inner handle lever 150 is rotated inthe open direction (the counterclockwise in the drawings). When theinner handle lever 150 is rotated, the first contact end 151 first comesinto contact with the inner link lever 160, whereby the inner link lever160 is rotated in the unlocking direction (the counterclockwisedirection in the drawings). When the inner link lever 160 is rotated,the rotational force is transmitted to the inner lock lever 170 by thetorsion spring 180 such that the inner lock lever 170 is rotated in theunlocking direction (the counterclockwise direction in the drawings),whereby the relay lever 190 is moved back in the unlocking direction(rightward in the drawings). When the relay lever 190 is moved, the linkpin 211 is inserted into the link pin insertion groove 142 to move tothe unlock position P2, and the door lock state is deactivated(unlocked). That is, the door lock is unlocked.

On the other hand, when the inner handle lever 150 is rotated, thesecond contact end 152 is capable of being brought into contact with thehandle open lever 140. At this time, the contact of the second contactend 152 may be formed so as to be sequentially generated following thecontact of the first contact end 151. That is, as the inner handle lever150 is rotated, the first contact end 151 first comes into contact withthe inner link lever 160, and then the second contact end 152 comes intocontact with the handle open lever 140. This is to first deactivate(unlock) the door lock state and to allow the door-open operation to beinterlocked with the second contact end 152. This sequential contact maybe easily realized by adjusting the positions of the first and secondcontact ends 151 and 152.

When the second contact end 152 comes into contact with the handle openlever 140, the handle open lever 140 is rotated in the open direction(the clockwise direction in the drawings). At this time, since the linkpin 211 is disposed at the unlock position P2 by the operationinterlocked with the first contact end 151 described above, the rotationof the handle open lever 140 is capable of being transmitted to the openlever 130 through the link pin 211. That is, the open lever 130 iscapable of being interlocked with the handle open lever 140 so as to berotated in the open direction (the counterclockwise direction in thedrawings). When the open lever 130 is rotated, the pawl 120 rotatestherewith and is disengaged from the catch 110, and the catch 110 isreleased from restraint in rotation to be in the state of beingdisengaged from the striker. That is, the door can be opened.

Through the operation process described above, the door latch 100 of thepresent embodiment is capable of implementing an override function fordeactivating (unlocking) the lock state and opening the door by only theoperation of the inner handle.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment as described above has thefirst contact end 151 and the second contact end 152 formed on the innerhandle lever 150, so that the door lock state can be deactivated(unlocked) by interlocking with the first contact end 151 and the doorcan be opened by interlocking with the second contact end 152. The innerhandle lever 150 is capable of reducing the number of lever componentsfor implementing the override function and realizing the structuresimplification by implementing the above two interlocking operationswith a single lever component.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment is configured such that thefirst contact end 151 first comes into contact with the inner link lever160 and the second contact end 152 sequentially comes into contact thehandle open lever 140, so that the deactivation (unlocking) of the doorlocking state and the opening operation of the door can be sequentiallyperformed. Therefore, despite the structural simplification, it ispossible to minimize the interference or malfunction of the levercomponents when the override function is executed.

The door latch 100 of the present embodiment includes the inner linklever 160 and the torsion spring 180 and is configured such that therotational force of the inner handle lever 150 is transmitted to theinner lock lever 170 through the inner link lever 160 and the torsionspring 180. That is, the inner lock lever 170 is not directlyinterlocked with the inner handle lever 150 or the inner link lever 160,but receives a rotational force through a predetermined buffer meanscalled a torsion spring 180. Therefore, even when the operation of theother operation button is simultaneously performed with the operation ofthe inner handle, or even if the lever components are not disposed atcorrect positions for a certain reason, the lever components can beprevented from being damaged through the buffering action of the torsionspring 180.

For example, it is assumed that the handle open lever 140 is rotated inthe open direction (the clockwise direction in the drawings) in a statein which the link pin 211 is not inserted into and fastened to the linkpin insertion groove 142 for a certain reason. In such a case, even ifthe inner lock lever 170 is rotated in the open direction (thecounterclockwise direction in the drawings), the link pin 211 cannot befastened to the link pin insertion groove 142. Thus, the rotation of theinner lock lever 170 may damage the link pin 211 or various componentsinterlocked therewith. However, according to the present disclosure,since the rotation of the inner lock lever 170 is restricted by thetorsion spring 180, it is possible to prevent breakage of the relatedcomponents even in the above-described state. That is, even if the firstcontact end 151 of the handle open lever 140 pushes and rotates theinner link lever 160, the torsion spring 180 elastically deforms so asto receive the rotation of the inner link lever 160, and the inner locklever 170 is not rotated. Therefore, it is possible to effectivelyprevent the breakage of lever components even if jamming occurs invarious use environments.

While the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described,various modifications and changes can be made to the present disclosureby a person ordinarily skilled in the art by, for example, adding,changing, or deleting constituent elements without departing from thetechnical idea of the present disclosure defined in the claims, and themodifications and changes shall be deemed as falling within the scope ofthe present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle door checker comprising: an open lever(130) configured to rotate a pawl (120) in an open direction; a handleopen lever (140) having a link pin insertion groove (142); an innerhandle lever (150) connected to an inner handle cable (C1) to be rotatedin an open direction in response to operation of an inner handle, andcomprising a first contact end (151) and a second contact end (152)configured to come into contact with the handle open lever (140) whilebeing rotated in the open direction so as to rotate the handle openlever (140) in the open direction; an inner link lever (160) configuredto come into contact with the first contact end (151) when the innerhandle lever (150) is rotated in the open direction so as to beinterlockingly rotated in an unlocking direction; an inner lock lever(170) configured to share a fifth rotation axis (R5) with the inner linklever (160); an elastic member (180) fastened between the inner linklever (160) and the inner lock lever (170) so as to transmit arotational force of the inner link lever (160) in the unlockingdirection to the inner lock lever (170); and a link (210) comprising alink pin (211) interlocked with rotation of the inner lock lever (170)in the unlocking direction so as to be fastened to the link pininsertion groove (142).
 2. The vehicle door checker of claim 1, whereinthe elastic member (180) includes a torsion spring (180) having a firstend portion (181) fastened to the inner link lever (160) and a secondend portion (182) fastened to the inner lock lever (170) such that theinner link lever (160) transmits the rotational force of the inner linklever (160) in the unlocking direction to the inner lock lever (170). 3.The vehicle door checker of claim 1, wherein the inner lock lever (170)is connected to a relay lever (190), which is provided to be interlockedwith rotation of the inner lock lever (170) in the unlocking directionso as to slide in the unlocking direction, and the link (210) isfastened to the relay lever (190) via a sixth rotation axis (R6) androtates about the sixth rotation axis (R6) such that when the inner locklever (170) is rotated in the unlocking direction, the link pin (211) isinserted into and fastened to the link pin insertion groove (142). 4.The vehicle door checker of claim 1, wherein, when the first contact end(151) is in contact with the inner link lever (160) when the innerhandle lever (150) is rotated in the open direction, the second contactend (152) sequentially comes into contact with the handle open lever(140) so as to rotate the handle open lever (140) in the open direction.5. The vehicle door checker of claim 1, wherein the link pin (211) isprovided to be disposed at: a lock position (P1) at which the link pin(211) is disengaged from the link pin insertion groove (142) such thatthe open lever (130) is not interlocked with the rotation of the handleopening lever (140) in the open direction; and an unlock position (P2)at which the link pin (211) is inserted into the link pin insertiongroove (142) such that when the handle open lever (140) is rotated inthe opening direction, the link pin is capable of coming into closecontact with the link pin interlocking portion (131).